Shaw Direct Signal in Az

[bayguy]

I'm sure there is a lot of us that just use it down south. I use to put my SD service on Vacation from Apr to Oct for the past 15 years. They definitely lost me as a customer last Oct.

Oh I see you have some other way to watch TV in Canada?

 

[mellaby]

Oh I see you have some other way to watch TV in Canada?

I have Telus Optik TV.

 

[Noah12]

I was looking to buy not rent. The last time I looked they were under 300.00 on the web site, now on Facebook or Kijiji they are 499. Not really know why. Bell only sells all refurbished ones now. Like everything it is going up I guess.

 

[FernyD]

Yes, most of us use TELUS or Shaw Cable at home. Shaw Satellite is not a good service, I give it a 3 out of 10. Shaw Cable and TELUS TV are much better in everything they do. So, as someone else said, I would use it down south and then put it on vacation mode until I went back down. Such a shame. Now have to use other devices just to watch Canadian TV and Sports services. What a drag.

What does everyone else do or are you going to do?

 

[stecle]

Yes, most of us use TELUS or Shaw Cable at home. Shaw Satellite is not a good service, I give it a 3 out of 10. Shaw Cable and TELUS TV are much better in everything they do. So, as someone else said, I would use it down south and then put it on vacation mode until I went back down. Such a shame. Now have to use other devices just to watch Canadian TV and Sports services. What a drag.

What does everyone else do or are you going to do?

I am not going to strongly defend ShawDirect here but I never found them too bad to deal with. My complaints would be ridiculous hold times on the phone and frequent price increases. I don't like the new 830 PVR, however their Digicipher STB's have a far superior picture than Bell.

Speaking of Bell they deactivated a couple in their 80's who were customers of mine, when they couldn't pass the phone audit check they frequently did. I never heard of ShawDirect harassing their customers.

 

[tvmaster]

I am not going to strongly defend ShawDirect here but I never found them too bad to deal with. My complaints would be ridiculous hold times on the phone and frequent price increases. I don't like the new 830 PVR, however their Digicipher STB's have a far superior picture than Bell.

Speaking of Bell they deactivated a couple in their 80's who were customers of mine, when they couldn't pass the phone audit check they frequently did. I never heard of ShawDirect harassing their customers.

Whaaat? What's a 'phone audit check' - how is that done, actually?

 

[harshness]

Whaaat? What's a 'phone audit check' - how is that done, actually?

They call you and ask for a code that appears in the menus on each receiver to confirm that all receivers are within walking distance of each other.

 

[stecle]

They call you and ask for a code that appears in the menus on each receiver to confirm that all receivers are within walking distance of each other.

Now imagine the customer is in their 80's and has poor sight and hearing, mobility issues and struggles with simple tasks like changing channels and using the guide.

 

[harshness]

Now imagine the customer is in their 80's and has poor sight and hearing, mobility issues and struggles with simple tasks like changing channels and using the guide.

I don't imagine that such a customer would be on the business end of an audit. Audits are trying to trap accounts with multiple receivers in different locations.

If they were using their receiver as part of a larger household, they probably wouldn't be getting the call.

No need to demonize the company. Demonize those who make audits necessary.

 

[SRQ_JOE]

I have Telus Optik TV.

From Sarasota Florida, F2 died completely about a month ago. I've been streaming Bell Fibe through my second home in Toronto using VPN or by logging onto my company server up there. PITA. I'm not sure if there's a dish big enough for G1 this far south. I went through similar with Bell a few years ago. DTH satellite from Canada in the southern US is history.

 

[tvmaster]

From Sarasota Florida, F2 died completely about a month ago. I've been streaming Bell Fibe through my second home in Toronto using VPN or by logging onto my company server up there. PITA. I'm not sure if there's a dish big enough for G1 this far south. I went through similar with Bell a few years ago. DTH satellite from Canada in the southern US is history.

Sucks, doesn't it? And we can't get The Beaches on the cover of Rolling Stone either. arghhhhh. There's a fellow here in Denver with a 2.6m dish who's doing just fine. But that's a big, honkin' dish...

 

[tvmaster]

Will do, been looking at Craigslist and Facebook marketplace but nothing yet, hopefully something will show up. Doesn't look like there is many dealers out there selling new ones anymore, and the ones I have found are more than I would like to pay.

Hey there - long time, no activity. Did you ever have any luck finding a big honkin' dish for your area? Still dreaming, lol. Thanks

 

[forecheck]

Hey there - long time, no activity. Did you ever have any luck finding a big honkin' dish for your area? Still dreaming, lol. Thanks

Unfortunately no, I still keep checking Craigslist and Facebook marketplace, but nothing, even when I expand the area to most of the west. I did start looking into new ones but haven't even found a place that has something in stock to even get a quote, seems most of the websites are long out of date or don't have any stock in the US. But I haven't given up, will update if/when I get one.

 

[mikekohl]

Unfortunately no, I still keep checking Craigslist and Facebook marketplace, but nothing, even when I expand the area to most of the west. I did start looking into new ones but haven't even found a place that has something in stock to even get a quote, seems most of the websites are long out of date or don't have any stock in the US. But I haven't given up, will update if/when I get one.

It may take some very selective looking, but try commercial buildings that may have a large offset dish no longer in use. You're not going to have any luck on G1 with a 1.8 meter, but perhaps a government agency might have an even larger offset Ku-band antenna not presently in use. Or a former stockbroker, maybe a school or a gas station. If it is transmit-receive, the transmit part can be removed and things modified for receive only. You will find no deals on new offset dishes larger than 1.8 meters, even if you are in a place where you could pick up and avoid shipping charges for motor freight delivery. Used antennas of this type are rare at this point in time, but keep looking and expand your search. Good luck! Mike

 

[ftouch]

With the 800 series receiver can you still view Shaw Direct in Az ?

I'm new to Satelliteguys so let me give my perspective on Shaw TV reception from someone living in S. Indiana (about latitude 38.9). I have 4 800 series receivers (so all signals go through a multiswitch) and a 75 cm dish. I recently bought a signal meter, SATLINK WS-6933, but have been unable to measure a meaningful signal with it as the Quality Signal measures 0. Perhaps it's my meter settings or perhaps the incoming satellite signal is too weak. I believe it's the later. In any case, I typically measure the incoming signal by taking a Shaw box and a TV outside positioned next to the dish. If there are no adverse weather conditions, the typical signal level is 60 to 70 and EcbNo is 6.0 to 6.5. All strong enough to give me a decent picture. Below signal level 60, my picture starts fading in and out. On a bad weather day (rain, thunderstorms (not uncommon here), snow, etc.) the signal level typically drops below 60 thus no TV. My cable run for all TVs is about 100 yards from dish to TV and my signal loss seems to be minimal as I'll get similar readings at the dish and at the TV.

So, with that as background, I have 2 questions:
1. To boost the signal level, I'm considering replacing my dish for a larger dish, say 90 cm or 120 cm. I currently have an LNB, Shaw 75E-G1(T000409), so designed specifically to be used with a 75 cm dish. When I noticed my signal level decreasing, about 1 year ago, I replaced the LNB with a brand new one and saw no improvement in the signal level. Would this LNB still work with a larger dish? If so, are there any special adjustments that I would need to make in order to get it working? I know others have larger dishes, as one of the threads mentions someone in Denver with a 2.4m dish so there must be a way to make it work. Any advice on this would be appreciated.
2. To be sure my WS-6933 meter is set correctly, any advice on how to set all of the settings?

Sorry for the long post. Thanks in advance for all input.

 

[harshness]

The signal levels likely changed because Shaw had to take Anik F2 out of service, leaving only Anik G1.

Southern Indiana (i.e., Evansville) is on the bitter edge of Anik G1's coverage area. A bigger dish may or may not help in this band, as it likely would in C-band.

Know that affixing the Shaw LNB assembly to a random 120cm FTA dish is not for the faint of heart.

I'm not sure what LNB switching scheme Shaw uses.

 

[-Jim-]

I'm new to Satelliteguys so let me give my perspective on Shaw TV reception from someone living in S. Indiana (about latitude 38.9). I have 4 800 series receivers (so all signals go through a multiswitch) and a 75 cm dish. I recently bought a signal meter, SATLINK WS-6933, but have been unable to measure a meaningful signal with it as the Quality Signal measures 0. Perhaps it's my meter settings or perhaps the incoming satellite signal is too weak. I believe it's the later. In any case, I typically measure the incoming signal by taking a Shaw box and a TV outside positioned next to the dish. If there are no adverse weather conditions, the typical signal level is 60 to 70 and EcbNo is 6.0 to 6.5. All strong enough to give me a decent picture. Below signal level 60, my picture starts fading in and out. On a bad weather day (rain, thunderstorms (not uncommon here), snow, etc.) the signal level typically drops below 60 thus no TV. My cable run for all TVs is about 100 yards from dish to TV and my signal loss seems to be minimal as I'll get similar readings at the dish and at the TV.

So, with that as background, I have 2 questions:
1. To boost the signal level, I'm considering replacing my dish for a larger dish, say 90 cm or 120 cm. I currently have an LNB, Shaw 75E-G1(T000409), so designed specifically to be used with a 75 cm dish. When I noticed my signal level decreasing, about 1 year ago, I replaced the LNB with a brand new one and saw no improvement in the signal level. Would this LNB still work with a larger dish? If so, are there any special adjustments that I would need to make in order to get it working? I know others have larger dishes, as one of the threads mentions someone in Denver with a 2.4m dish so there must be a way to make it work. Any advice on this would be appreciated.
2. To be sure my WS-6933 meter is set correctly, any advice on how to set all of the settings?

Sorry for the long post. Thanks in advance for all input.

I'm sorry for the delay in my response. I have a very tough installation of Shaw Direct with very long runs. The first is about 300 feet from the Dish to the Multiswitch at our Cabin, and then 4 of the outputs go to the neighbor's place another 250 feet or so away. (He has his own Shaw Direct Account) We struggled for ages with poor signal strength and EcbNo values to his place. I even moved to the 75 cm dish and stock LNB, which did give significant improvement (Swag about 10%). All cables now have zero splices and Aqua Tight F connectors. But it still wasn't enough.

The neighbor was going to throw in the towel as Shaw Direct wouldn't service the area (but now does). Anyway, in desperation I tried an in-line booster => I installed a Phillips SDW5005GN In Line Amplifier after the Multiswitch and his signals all improved dramatically. He and his wife are happy. There are In Line Amplifiers for less than $20 USD on amazon that you can try. Far less costly than a new Dish assembly.

Try one and see if it fixes things for you. Could be the most impactful $20 you ever spent on your Sat system!